


A Line of Dominoes, Falling

by Acxa_Kogane



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: AU, Brotherly Bonding, Character Death, Gen, Jason Todd is Red Hood, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tags Contain Spoilers, Tim Drake is Red Robin, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-17 10:04:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21052592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Acxa_Kogane/pseuds/Acxa_Kogane
Summary: It was quiet, save for the gentle zoom of traffic passing far below and the vibration of the AC. It was dark, save for the flashing patterns splayed across the ceiling by fleeting city lights. It was peaceful, aside from his untamed thoughts and heart-quaking fears clashing within his restless mind.





	A Line of Dominoes, Falling

**Author's Note:**

> I don't entirely know where this is going, but I've had it stagnating on my computer for months, so I'm gonna bite the bullet and post it.

It was quiet, save for the gentle zoom of traffic passing far below and the vibration of the AC. It was dark, save for the flashing patterns splayed across the ceiling by fleeting city lights. It was peaceful, aside from his untamed thoughts and heart-quaking fears clashing within his restless mind.

Sleep had abandoned him – betrayed him to the torment of his internal thoughts. A whirlpool of emotion had taken hold of him, leaving him trapped inside it's tossing tendrils as it had every night for the past week. Any hint of reprieve was roughly ripped away and any inclination of silence was simply a foolish fantasy. His fear was determined to fill every pondering moment with slippery slopes of sickening scenarios, taunting him with tales of eternal terror. 

So he lay there, tossing and turning, striving to escape from the abysmal images – but to no avail. Time had certainly crawled on, but the exact amount was as far out of reach as relief from his mental manacles. 

A scream pierced the silence with startling clarity, clearing his clouded contemplations as swiftly as a strong breeze scatters a miasmatic mist. A regret-riddled pause passed as he stared to the ceiling in search of some sort of signal. When none came, he heaved a great sigh and slid off the rickety recliner, toes tentatively touching the chilled floor. 

At his brother's door he halted, hand hovering in hesitation above the dented doorknob. Worrying at his lip, he took a calming breath, closed his eyes, and entered the room. Almost the moment he did so, the man amongst the thrashed sheets bolted upright with a cry.

"NO!!!"

Blue-green eyes shone with fear in the darkness as the remnants of the nightmare faded away. Guilt gnawed at him and he sidled forwards a bit with a gulp.

"Hey Jay."

There was no guarantee that the line between nightmare and reality (so easily blurred in those night hours) was clear enough that his presence would make any difference. There was also no way to predict whether or not the elder teen would react, or what sort it would be if he did. Being patient and gentle had worked before, but now the variables had shifted and the equation could be faulty. 

Jason's eyes widened and he tore the room apart with his gaze. For a desperate second he thought he'd made it through to him – but the sea-glass eyes skimmed right over him in their frantic search and his heart clenched violently. 

A choked sound came from Jason's throat as he dropped his head into his hands, ash-white and soot-black strands twisting together under clenched hands. He decided to edge his way a bit further into the room, awkwardly hovering at the end of the bed as he watched his brother try to recover from the night terror.

Deep, shuddering breaths were the sole sound in the apartment for several minutes.

"Jay," he tried again.

The older teen's breath hitched, and tears started to leak from closed eyes as he shook on the bed. This wasn't right. He should go. His presence was only making it worse. 

He'd just turned on his heel when Jason started to mumble something out between quiet sobs. Freezing in place, his ears picked up on the choked fragments.

" 'M sorry... Shoulda been there... Shoulda been faster... 's all my fault."

Oh. Oh. That's what this was about. And now he felt even worse then he had before. 

"It wasn't your fault Jay," he tried to console him, "It really wasn't."

Silence reigned once more.

This wasn't right. None of this was right. He shouldn't be here. Jason shouldn't be crying like this. None of this should have happened.

"... Shoulda paid more 'tention... I missed it... 'M so sorry..."

It had only been a week ago.

"... 'M sorry... 'm so sorry..."

* * *

(One week ago)

"Come on Timbo, at least try to keep up!" 

Restraining the urge to stick his tongue out at Jason was not easy. The older teen cackled as he raced even further ahead across the rooftops. 

"Why... can't... you just swing... like a normal person?!" He panted. Seriously?! What was with this guy! Who _ran_ when you could swing?

"Ha! Cause swinging through the air on a thin little wire is what _normal_ people do."

"Well... if you're a batkid... it's normal. Seriously Jay... I think you're the weird one out here." 

"I am not! Running is a perfectly regular activity. Besides, it's much faster then using grapples. Also, code names."

To his dismay, it seemed that Jason was right on that point. They'd been traveling across the city for some time and somehow Jay was already significantly ahead of him, despite the fact that by all reasoning a grapple would be the more efficient way to travel. Keeping up with Jay's reckless, fast pace wasn't easy and his limbs had begun complaining what felt like an eternity ago. 

"So you can call me by my name... but when I simply return the favor... it's suddenly important that we use code names?"

"That's cause I've got a mask, genius kid. You really think I couldn't just talk on the coms without anyone else hearing me? If all y'all weren't so particular about using those flimsy dominoes then I'd tell ya to take notes. When you've got a mask that covers your mouth you can be having an entire conversation with someone on the coms while you punch bad guys and they won't hear a word you say. It's quite handy."

"You just like your helmet."

"Guilty as charged." He paused for the fifth time to let him catch up. Touching down on the roof 15 seconds later, he sat down hard. As he caught his breath, he inspected the teen standing in front of him.

How was Jay still doing this? He looked like he'd just been out for a casual stroll while Tim had to sit down to give his sore arms and legs a rest. And after at least an hour straight of running without a break, Jay should be at least somewhat tired. Not just standing there happily without even the slightest hint of exhaustion. This was so not fair. He was willing to bet Jay could give Dick a run (ha) for his money. The two of them had this thing for running, and even though Dick greatly preferred to fly, he still had insane speed and endurance in the running department. 

"Hey," Jay snapped his fingers in his face, "Earth to Red."

"Oh, what? Sorry." Had time passed? It didn't feel like it had been all that long.

"What's all this about?"

His brows furrowed. "What's all what about?"

Jay slipped his helmet off to give him a look. What did he do?

"You've been in dreamland for three minutes." 

"Oh."

Jason wasn't done. "Wow. Only two little hours of swinging and you're already so tired that you zone out on random rooftops. I'm impressed. Not many bats can manage to exhaust themselves so thoroughly and quickly that they're just sitting on the floor in a daze. Most patrols are hours longer then this, you sure ya aren't getting too old for this?"

And that was Jay's way of saying he was worried. He was quite similar to Damian in that way, except he greatly preferred Jay's company to that of the demon brat. Jay was nicer and less likely to kill him.

Leaning back on his hands, he smirked up at the still standing antihero. 

"While I greatly appreciate the concern, I'm completely fine."

The red domino mask Jay wore under his helmet (talk about dramatic) raised along with his brother's skeptical eyebrow. 

"Hmm. I'll keep the fact that you can only work out for 120 minutes before collapsing on the floor in a daze in mind for next time I try to kill you."

Considering the times Jason had tried to kill him (he'd only almost succeeded three times), he probably should have been worrying a bit more about that statement. And a year ago he would have worried. But, unlike the other bats who had dismissed the antihero as insane, he'd actually pursued him and tried to discover what he could about the circumstances of his return. Finding out about the Lazarus pits had been a game changer. It had taken a lot of work, ten months, an abundance of stubbornness, and several near-death interactions, but now he could proudly say that he and his childhood hero were brothers. And as it turns out, when you almost die alongside somebody several times, you start to get close to them. (If he was being honest, Jay was his closest friend, aside from Kon and Bart. He could tell Jay things he couldn't tell the others.) 

After this long, he'd realized that Jay dealt with his past in a different way then the others. Bruce didn't deal with his past- he lived in it. Dick covered it up with smiles and laughter. Damian wouldn't talk about it to anyone (except maybe Dick). He himself tried to live in the present, attempting to forget the bad things and remember the good things. 

Jay's coping was vastly different. While everyone else tried to forget what they'd done and cover it up, Jay would openly talk about all the things he'd done that he (likely) regretted by now. Sooo, constant death jokes and reminders that he'd been a crime lord and was currently an outlaw who'd tried to kill all of them at least once (except the girls and Alfred). 

"-obin. Tim." The voice broke into his thoughts. 

"Codenames." He reprimanded without thinking.

Jason folded his arms with a worried glare. 

"What did you do? I swear, if you're hiding a concussion again I'm going to take you straight to Leslie's-"

"I didn't do anything!" Why did they always think he'd done something? "And I don't have a concussion so you can relax." 

"Have you been getting enough sleep? How much sleep have you had in the last 48 hours?"

The antihero knelt down in front of him and made as if to pull his cowl off. He scowled and batted the hands away, running his fingertips across the bridge of his nose to reassure himself that his mask was securely covering his eyes. 

"I told you I'm fine. I don't have a concussion, and I've gotten enough sleep." 

"Riiight. And how much sleep has that 'enough' been?"

"Umm..." Shoot. He knew. "4 hours."

"When."

"...26 hours ago?" 

Jason threw his hands in the air and looked to the heavens in dramatic despair.

"Seriously kid?! You're gonna get yourself killed and then B's going to blame me for not being your babysitter and sending you home and then I'll have to feel all guilty because you're not terrible."

Yeah, Jay was worried about him now. (Just ignore all that ridiculous stuff about Bruce, even if it's exactly what he'd do).

"Okay, fine. I'll go sleep."

"Grea-"

"-After I finish this case." 

The older teen groaned. "Come on Timbo! You can let the case rest for a few hours. Just let me handle it, you can go sl-"

"Nope. I'm doing the case on my own and now. Sleep is for the weak."

"And you, babybird, are definitely weak right now. Get yourself back to your little nest before I have to drag you back there myself and get a bunch of bat-mites on my tail cause of it."

Oh. That was another thing. They'd kinda kept the fact that they weren't actively out to kill/imprison the other anymore secret from the other bats. The main reason for this, although they weren't likely to ever say it out loud, was that they were afraid of losing the other. Both of them knew how all the others felt about Jay, and they both knew how Tim was always under Bruce's wing as Robin. Even though he was technically his own vigilante now, Bruce still had a tendency to get rather overprotective. And Bruce would definitely decide he was in danger if he was with Jason. Then Jay would get pushed even farther from the others and he would lose the one brother he felt understood him. Neither of them wanted to risk it.

He sighed. "Fine. I'll go back on my own." This was not fair. He needed to get to that shipment. He suspected that it was tied to this new secret society of villains that called themselves the "Light." Quite the ironic name if he thought so himself. Anyway, he had 5 hours before the shipment touched down at the Bludhaven docks. He didn't have time for Jay to knock him out or time to get any real sleep. Giving his brother a frustrated glare, which was answered with a crooked smirk, he slipped off the roof in the direction of his apartment.

Sure enough, Jay gave him maybe a minute before starting his rooftop parkor run again. Soon he was "just running" at close to 17 mph next to him as he swung from roof to roof. Tim rolled his eyes under the white lenses. 

"I don't need an escort to my room, Hood."

"You might need a guard though."

"Even if I needed a guard, which a don't, there's nothing here for you to 'guard' me from anyway."

"Don't be ridiculous, I'm here to guard you from your own mind. I'll let you get to your nest in peace as long as you promise to get some rest before working on your case any more. Deal?"

He had a plan by now. Jay should've been more specific with his terms. "Deal."

The second he finished uttering the word, Jay was nowhere to be found. Not that the vigilante would be leaving him alone by a long shot. Tim just had to fake him out long enough for him to get bored and stop spying. Then he could prepare for tonight. The sun would be going down in about an hour and a half. Plenty of time for him to pull off his first part of the plan. By the time step two began, Jay would already be busy with his "little" turf. (It was actually a large majority of Gotham, but Bruce really didn't need to know the extent of his control.) Perfect plan.

Arriving at his apartment he quickly changed into civvies. Jay was probably already out on one of the nearby buildings to make sure he actually slept. With careful movements, he brought out his computer after sitting on his bed. Jay should be texting him right about... now.

[New Message from: "J-bird"]

J-bird: Hey Timbers, close the computer right now or I'm going to have to test my new tranq gun out :D Have a nice nap!

Me: Fine! Putting it away now.

Me: But stop spying on me. Makes me feel like I'm your next target.

J-bird: Who's to say you aren't?

Me: I can't sleep if you keep texting.

J-bird: Don't get your feathers ruffled up, I'm leaving.

Me: Just be glad I'm listening to you at all.

With an exaggerated sweep he closed the laptop and placed it on the table by the bed. Perfect. Setting his mental timer, he prepared to take a one hour nap. Jay would only wait to make sure he was asleep for about 45 minutes. Then he'd get distracted by something happening, or simply get bored of watching to make sure he didn't go anywhere, and eventually leave. That gave him 15 minutes of buffer time, in case he didn't leave right away, before he could get up and get back to work. 

(an hour later)

He opened his eyes somewhat sluggishly. Maybe Jay was right and he SHOULD be getting a little more sleep. 

Nah. He had work to do. That shipment would be here in... 3 hours 49 minutes. He had less time then he thought. Time to get to work.

3 hours 30 minutes.

He was prepped and checking sources again. Heavily armed crew. Possibly trained. Shipment was to be unloaded quickly and then reloaded 30 minutes later onto a different ship. Plenty of time to get in, capture or destroy whatever it was they were transporting, and get back out. He'd plant a tracker on the first ship, so he could monitor any other movements or delivery locations easily. They'd realize he was there once the other ship got there, but by that time he should have been able to neutralize all the ground guards and do what he needed to with the shipment. 

2 hours 54 minutes.

He set off towards Bludhaven. He didn't send Dick a message, but he didn't think his brother would mind that he was in his city. Besides, he was a bit of a free floater. He tended to stay in Gotham, but they all knew that he would also travel around the world for his missions. Everyone also knew that Jay was only in Gotham about 37% of the time. The rest of the time he was flying all around to world, making full use of his outlaw status and the fact that Bruce hadn't dared kick him out of Gotham yet. What they didn't know was how often their paths "happened" to cross.

1 hour 20 minutes.

He was at the docks. He knew they weren't due to be there for over an hour, but it was entirely possible that they wouldn't be exactly on the dot, whether it was so that anyone coming to intercept them wouldn't find them, or because of good waters. He had time to work on his plan, and figure out what theirs was. He turned on his wrist computer and started working.

0 hours 34 minutes.

They were here. He watched from his perch atop a nearby building as they unloaded several crates onto the docks before surrounding it. He did a quick investigation of their weapons. There wasn't much to worry about. Except maybe the guys with the guns. As long as he took them out first he'd be fine. Now time to get the tracker on that ship and wait for them to be out of the harbor before attacking.

0 hours 17 minutes.

He sprang out of the shadows, taking down the first two gun wielding goons before the others could react. Three birdarangs lodged themselves into the body armor of three guards who yelled in surprise before running away. Well. Guess that answers the question on whether they're trained or not. Four guards opened fire on him, but he was able to shield himself with his cape before they could hit him. Smoke pellets assured the rest of the battle as his lenses switched so as to see through the billowing smoke. 

Barely five minutes had passed until the smoke dissipated to reveal 20 unconscious guards... and a circle of new ones. When did they get here? Had the other ship arrived early? No matter. They were just delaying the inevitable. He waited before they got close before throwing down more pellets. These goons were even easier then the last ones, the fight lasted maybe 30 seconds. 

Instincts had him rolling to his right before he registered that a sword had just sliced through the air above his head. What? None of these guys were sword users, that much was obvious. A new party had entered the fight. 

Flip. Five shuriken cut the air beneath him. Ninja. This was bad. 

Duck. Sword. This was really bad. If these were who he thought they were, then this operation was greater then he thought.

Sure enough, two ninja appeared in front of him, already swinging their swords with lethal efficiency. 

What was so important that Ra's wanted it? Unless it was him that Ra's wanted again. That wasn't happening again anytime soon if he could help it. Four more ninja joined the fight. Given enough time he'd be able to take them. He'd managed to knock out one ninja with a tranquilizer dart to the neck when he noticed the shadows seemed darker then they had before.

He knocked out two others with darts (he ended up just stabbing them with them) and the forth one with a well placed kick. He took a second to breathe. Then he raised his eyes, already knowing what he'll find. 

Great. 

About 25 ninja had surrounded him, each with swords and shuriken of their own. At the very least, he'd be needing a large amount of bandages when this was all over. At worst, well, that depended on whether Ra's had issued a kill order or not. 

A small cloud of shuriken came at him from all angles. He dodged all but two, they stabbed him in the right arm and upper torso. About half of those were kill shots. So, either he wasn't the main target, or Ra's just didn't care a whole lot about his safety. Maybe both. He started fighting the first set of ninja that got to him. It was only a few seconds before they all became kill strikes or shots.

He was an idiot for not having some backup. Maybe Dick would be nearby. He quickly commed him.

"Nightwing this is Red Robin. Requesting immediate backup at the docks. Code Black."

A second passed before his comm crackled.

"I'll be there in six minutes."

He was now fighting 7 ninja.

"Not sure that'll be fast enough."

Whatever Nightwing was going to respond with was cut off with a burst of gunfire. Six ninja went down. Only three of them got up again. Those three appeared to have been hit in the side and the leg. 

A red, black, and brown blur flew from the top of a nearby building. Bullets flew everywhere as the Red Hood spun upside down in midair. His seven ninja went down from the surprise attack. 

"Well, looks like you picked up some friends Red. Wanna do the introductions?"

"Now" dodge, kick "Is not" spin "the right time!" Flip, dodge, punch.

"Alright. Fine. Ninja assassins I'm Red Hood. I'd expect a response from a civil person, but Ra's never trained you on manners so I'll take my case up with him instead, got it?"

Of course Jay had followed him. He should have known better then to have thought Jay wouldn't swing, er, run by periodically to make sure he was actually asleep. 

He'd be mad with him later, once they didn't have 18 mad ninja running at them. 

After a minute he'd gathered two more shuriken, one in his lower back and one in his left leg. This couldn't go on much longer, he obviously wasn't going to be able to make it out of here unless Dick showed up miraculously and saved them all. He was almost out of options. Even if the shuriken weren't poisoned (which he had a feeling they were) he was too physically exhausted to play this game much longer.

Almost as if thinking it was enough, he felt his left leg begin to spasm. Arching his back to avoid a sword, he jumped into a backflip, throwing batarangs as he did. His leg spasmed just as he landed, causing him to slip and twist his ankle painfully.

His cry of pain caused Jay to freeze, while the rest of the ninja swarmed forwards. Jay flew in front of him, his armor taking a hit from several shuriken and a sword. He managed to get up as Jay opened fire again. 

His reflexes seemed to give out as a sword flew out of nowhere, headed for his neck. He was almost too slow. He screamed as the cold metal cut into the unprotected skin of his cheek.

Beside him, Jay's fighting intensified. His brother was moving faster then the ninja could react, even with their extensive training. 5, no, 8 ninja went down around him in the blink of an eye. Jay'd take care of them - of him. All he needed to do was stay alive. Sadly, that was easier thought then done. Where was Dick?

"Nightwing, where are you?"

"I'm almost there. Hang on for me, kay? Just for two minutes?"

2 minutes. Two minutes were plenty of time for this battle to go either way. One good sword thrust and Jay was done for. Unfortunately, he was in worse condition. He now could feel the poison from the shuriken beginning to take effect. The fact that he had not one, but four of them stuck in him probably weren't going to do him any favors.

The glinting blade of a razor-sharp katana alerted him of the next attack. A few well placed hits would be enough to slow them down. Aaaand he wasn't able to complete said hits. Leaving his side open to attack from a sword. This was going to be hard to explain to Bruce. He'd probably get benched for at least a month after this fiasco. 

There was nothing he wanted more currently then for Nightwing to show up or the ninja to stop attacking before his body stopped functioning entirely. Bullets flew through the air around hitting his opponents. They went down. Hopefully he wasn't next. The world started to blur. That didn't seem right. Movement in his peripheral vision brought his surroundings back into focus. 

The buildings were moving? No. That was him. Vaguely he felt himself land on his side with a sickening thud. Everything spun as he felt the cold, wet concrete against his flushed, burning cheek. After a few seconds he was able to gather his senses enough to push to a sitting position and observe his surroundings.

The few remaining ninja were being viciously taken down by Jay. If he didn't know better, he'd think that Jay was going for kill shots. They'd be off by millimeters. Just another testimony to his uncanny skills. The world started to become fuzzy again. He needed to focus on something else. More movement brought him something to examine. 

One of the goons he had taken out originally was stirring. Was he one of the ones with a gun? The henchman reached towards his side and pulled out his firearm. Well. This was just peachy. 

Jason finished with the ninja and was standing completely still with his head down, helmet severely damaged. Others might assume that he was exhausted, but he knew better. Jay was fighting a mental battle now. When that ninja sliced his cheek he saw how his brother's fighting style changed. They'd fought together enough for him to recognize the influence of the pit. 

When the pit took control, Jason would become instinctual and reckless. It allowed him to defeat practically any opponent, but at a cost. It would try to take control of him and send him into a murderous, rage-filled state again. After every battle it came out in, he would be forced to take an indefinite period of time to quell the urge to give in. 

It was highly unlikely that the gun-wielding goon had any idea what was happening, but it didn't matter. The gun was already aimed for the (now unprotected) back of his brother's head. Jason wouldn't see it in time, the guy was right behind him. 

"Hood! Look out!"

Ignoring the fiery pain enwrapping his whole body, he grabbed a batarang. Hopefully his aim was still good enough for this. The weapon flew through the air silently. The henchman's eyes widened as the sleek object flew past his gun. Missed. 

The gunman's attention was drawn from Jason to him. That was... good for Jay, really bad for him. 

Jason turned towards him. The man pointed the gun. He gave Jay a weak smile. Dick flew over the rooftop.

At least they're safe.

Four gunshots echoed into the silence.

_"Tim!"_

**Author's Note:**

> Comments fuel my soul and will in turn provide motivation to write more. 
> 
> -Acxa


End file.
